


Cross My Heart

by Magpie_Crow



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Adoption, Angst with a Happy Ending, Kid Fic, M/M, Past Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 18:27:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21275717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magpie_Crow/pseuds/Magpie_Crow
Summary: Dee lied to keep Virgil safe. How far will his lies go?





	1. Virgil's Story

**Author's Note:**

> This was prompted by Snow on my Discord server! 
> 
> It was really fun to write. We need more adoption fics in this fandom.

“I’m not his brother.” 

Dee was lying again. Virgil shrugged and turned back to his coloring. Dee said that every time he lied, he did it to keep Virgil safe, and then he _crossed his heart_, which meant he wasn’t lying at all. Virgil believed him. Daddy hardly ever hit Virgil when Dee lied. 

And then the nice ladies in suits had come! They brought Dee and Virgil to this place, full of lots of other kids, and said they’d be staying for a while. It was fun! Dee didn’t have to lie as often. 

“Hey, kiddo?” 

He looked up. The two adults Dee had been talking to were kneeling in front of him. 

“I’m Patton. This is Logan, my husband. We were wondering if you’d like us to adopt you!”

Adopt? That meant…. What did that mean again?

_ “It’s like a sleepover, Virge. It’s a good thing, cross my heart!_

Virgil looked around the men to see Dee, grinning at him and giving him an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

“Okay.”

The two men smiled at him, and Virgil felt like he’d done something very good. “Thank you, kiddo! We’ll go talk to the matron, then. Do you want to go pack your things?”

“I’ll take him to get his stuff. C’mon, Virge.” Dee held his hand out, and Virgil scrambled up to hold his big brother’s hand. They walked up the stairs to the room the two of them shared. 

“You’ll be safe, Vee, cross my heart. These guys aren’t like Dad at all.” Dee started pulling Virgil’s things out of their drawers, putting them in a plastic bag he produced from somewhere. 

Virgil tugged on his sleeve so he’d turn to face him. “You coming too?”

“Nah, buddy, but I’ll keep you safe anyways! You can come back here and see me whenever.”

The six-year-old didn’t notice that his brother didn’t cross his heart that time.

~~

“Welcome home, kiddo!” Mister Patton held the door open for Virgil to wander through. The house was smaller than the one they’d just come from, but bigger than the place they’d been with Daddy and Mommy. 

“This way, Virgil.”

He followed Mister Logan farther into the house, and up the stairs. 

“Your room is here on the right. Mine and Patton’s is on the left, and the bathroom is at the end.” Mister Logan opened one of the doors and ushered Virgil in.

The room was nice. It had pale purple walls, and a big bed! The bed had a stuffed cat sitting next to the pillow. 

“Is it satisfactory?” Mister Logan paused, and looked away for a second. “My apologies. Do you like it?”

Virgil looked around again. “It’s a nice room, Mister Log’n.”

“It is yours.”

“Mine? All mine?” He’d never had a room on his own before! He couldn’t wait to show Dee! “Thank you!”

Mister Logan made a funny noise when Virgil hugged his legs as hard as he could.

~~

_ “Come back here, brat! I’ll skin you! That’s what you get for breaking my plate!” _

Daddy was chasing him and Daddy was _mad_. Dee. Dee! Where was Dee? 

“DEE!” Virgil shot awake with a scream, panting in the soft glow of the nightlight. 

There was a knock on the door. “Kiddo? Can I come in?”

Mister Patton. 

“Ye- yeah.”

The sweet man came in slowly, and, if Virgil wasn’t crying, he might have laughed at Mister Patton’s cat onesie. 

“Hey, sweetie. What’s wrong?”

“Want Dee. Daddy was chasing me, and Dee wasn’t there.”

Mister Patton came over and sat on the edge of Virgil’s bed. “Honey, Dee lives somewhere else now. You can always come for me or Logan if you need help, you know?”

Virgil nodded. “C-can we go see Dee soon?”

“We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

~~

They didn’t talk about it tomorrow. Or the next day. Or even the day after that. Virgil was having fun with Mister Patton and Mister Logan… They fed him good food, and let him sleep with the plush kitty, and gave him ice cream sometimes, but… 

Virgil was scared. Why wasn’t Dee coming to keep him safe?

“I don’t know, Lo-lo, he’s just… Becoming shyer and shyer! Wasn’t it supposed to be the other way around?”

Mister Patton was whispering to Mister Logan. They probably didn’t know Virgil could hear them.

“Patton, he is merely adjusting to the new environment. It will most likely take longer than just a week for him to trust us.”

“I want Dee.”

The men turned to look at him. They looked very tall from his seat on the floor by the couch. 

“I want my brother.”

Mister Patton came over and sat down next to him. “Honey, he said he wasn’t your brother when we were at the orphanage.”

“Dee tells lies. He’s not tellin’ the truth ‘less he crosses his heart.”

“Why does Dee lie, sweetie?” 

“Says it’s to keep me safe. Can we go get my brother?”

Mister Patton looks back at Mister Logan for a long time. “We’ll call the orphanage and see what we can do.”

~~

“What do you mean, he was already adopted?” Mister Patton was pacing in the kitchen, talking on the phone. 

Mister Logan was trying to help Virgil put a puzzle together.

“You didn’t think to tell us that he was Virgil’s brother? If we’d known, we’d have never- No, I don’t regret adopting Virgil, I just wish we could have taken both!” 

It was scary that Mister Patton was raising his voice. 

“Can you at least give me contact information for whoever adopted Dee? No? Can you give them our number? Fine. Thank you. Have a nice day.” Mister Patton slammed the phone down and walked out the back door, slamming that too.

Virgil shrunk in on himself. 

“No need to worry, Virgil. Patton merely has to take a walk. Neither of us will ever raise a hand against you.”

~~

“Let’s see about getting you a weighted plushie, kiddo! Just like the therapist recommended! Which one do you want?”

“Spider!”

“No!”

“Kitty?”

“We will get you the spider, Virgil. Patton, buy the spider.”

~~

“Virge? What do you think about getting a little brother?”

“Sure, whatever.”

“I told you he would be unopposed.”

“Shut up, Logan.”

~~

“Wow, that’s quite the story, Virgil!” Dr. Picani folded his hands over his desk. “What feelings do you have about your family now?”

Sixteen-year-old Virgil sat slumped in his new therapist’s office. “I mean, they’re good. I think- I think adopting Thomas when I was eight helped. I- uh. I had to transition from ‘protected’ to ‘protector’, pretty quick.” He clicked a button on his fidget cube thoughtfully. “I get a lot of what Dee felt back then, you know?”

“I understand. Anything else?”

“Think I’d like to see Dee again, someday. If that’s even possible. I mean, it’s been ten years.”

“Oh? And why would you want to see him, other than that he’s your brother?”

Virgil ducked his head to hide his eyes behind his purple fringe. “I’d want to say thanks. He gave up a lot to make sure I was safe and happy, even giving me up.”

Dr. Picani made a noise that sounded like a squeal. “That’s so cute! I’m sure your brother would love to see you again. I know this is a sudden subject change, but our time here _is_ almost up. Do you think you’ll be coming back to me? I can suggest other people in the area if I’m not a good fit.”

“Yeah, I will. Thanks, Doctor P. You’ve made the move easier. I’ll schedule something with the front desk.” Virgil got up and shook Dr. Picani’s hand before heading out of the small office.


	2. Dorian's Story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't going to post this tonight, but I got convinced.  
💚💚💚💚💚 AceOnIce

_“That’ll teach you to play with the knobs on the stove!”_

Dorian yelped and sat up, hand flying to the tender skin on his cheek. He could feel the ridges running up to his forehead from where his face had made contact with the hot coils on the stove-top. At least someone came and got him and Virgil away from That Man after that.

He looked over at Virgil, still asleep on the cot next to his. His six-year-old brother looked so small, curled up around the extra pillow Dorian managed to sneak for him.

Dorian would do anything to keep his brother safe, even lie to That Man about who, exactly, had messed with the knobs on the oven. Virgil was little, he didn’t know.

It was his job as an eleven-year-old to watch out for his baby brother.

~~

“We cannot afford two children, Patton.”

“You don’t know they’re related! Some kids just look alike because they’re kids!”

“Do you want to risk separating a child from his brother?”

The two men had come in to look for a child to adopt, and seemed to like Virgil. Dorian didn’t want to get in the way of his baby brother having a happy future. He knew that kids over ten didn’t get adopted most of the time, and if he stopped this couple from adopting Virge just by being his brother, Virgil might not have another chance.

Dorian didn’t want Virge to have to wait until he aged out of the system and took custody of his little brother. If that was even possible.

“I’m not his brother.” 

The men turned to him. 

“We just look alike, and happened to come in on the same day. Virgil’s a good kid.”

“Thank you, kiddo!” 

They went to go talk to Virgil, and when his little brother looked at him, Dorian grinned at him and gave him a thumbs-up. His brother was going to have a chance! 

~~

Sleeping was harder without the little snuffling noises Virgil made when he was dreaming. Dorian could be excused for his grogginess when the matron shook him awake one morning. 

“Wake up, Dorian! Pack your things, quickly now!”

He stumbled out of bed and blearily began shoveling his things into a bag the matron handed him. He was probably getting moved to a room with the other older boys, now that he didn’t  
have Virgil to share with. 

Instead, he was ushered downstairs, where a tall man in sunglasses was waiting. 

“Hey, gurl. You ready to go?”

“Uh. I guess?”

“Cool.” The man led him out to a shiny new car. “Hop in, kid. The name’s Remy.”

“Nice to meet you?”

“Yeah, yeah, pleasantries.” Remy made sure Dorian was buckled before starting the car. “I’m adopting you so you don’t age out of the system like I did.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t sound so disappointed, kid! It’ll be fun. My neighbors have kids around your age.”

“Oh.”

“Did you just wake up? That makes sense. Have you had coffee before?”

Coffee was the best thing, next to Virgil. 

“Drink it slow, kid. We’ve got a long drive.”

~~

There was a massive crash, and the three boys exchanged panicked glances. Mrs. Dot came into the room to survey the pieces of her vase.

“Boys? What happened?”

“Re-oof!”

Dorian smacked a hand over Roman’s mouth. “I bumped it, sorry!”

“Uh, no? That was totally me, DeeDee.”

Roman pulled Dorian’s hand away. “Yeah, it was Remus!”

“Dorian? Why did you lie? You know I’m not going to be too harsh.”

“I-uh. I used to lie a lot” _for Virgil_ “for the younger boys at the orphanage.” Dorian looked down at his feet. “Guess it’s a habit, sorry. I’ll try to stop.”

“Well, okay, hon. Just know you don’t have to protect anyone here! I’m never going to hit either of my boys, and Remy isn’t going to hit you either.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

Remy had been good. Nothing like That Man. He let Dorian eat three meals a day, he gave him hot tea with honey when he woke up with a nightmare, and he didn’t ask Dorian too many questions. It was nice. He did want Dorian to see a therapist, which… Dorian didn’t know how he felt about that. It couldn’t be too bad, could it?

Maybe he could talk to the therapist about <strike>Virgil</strike> That Man. About moving so far away from the town he’d known all his life. (Remy lived two states away from where Dorian lived before. He still wouldn’t say why he picked _that_ orphanage.)

It was hard to remember not to lie.

~~

“DeeDee!” Remus came crashing into Dorian’s room, Roman following close behind. “The new astronomy prof is _hot_!”

“He’s also twice our age, and _married_.”

“So?”

“He has pictures of his sons! On his desk!”

“What you’re saying is, he’s a DILF. Oh, Mr. S, I’d die for you!” Remus pretended to swoon into Dorian’s desk chair, making an obscene gesture with his hands.

Roman collapsed on the bed, settling his head in Dorian’s lap. “My love, whatever possessed me to sign up for the same college class as Remus?”

“Stupidity, perhaps?” Dorian watched as his boyfriend faked a wound. 

“Oh, how you hurt me! I fear I shall never recover, save for a kiss!” Roman surged upwards, pausing to quirk his eyebrow at Dorian in question.

Dorian huffed out a laugh and moved in to connect the kiss.

“You two are gross!” 

Dorian flipped Remus off. 

Life was good. They’d celebrated his 20th birthday recently, and he was passing all of his classes. Sometimes he missed his little brother, when Remus was being particularly childish, or  
when he saw a flash of purple out of the corner of his eye, but… 

Surely Virgil was happy. 

~~

Dorian was gearing up for another session with Doctor Picani. He’d had a long week, studying for finals and with Roman being sick. 

He had also been having nightmares lately, and phantom pain in the scarred skin on his face. Doctor Picani had helped him work through his trauma from his sperm donor, but there were  
still things he needed to sort out. 

At least he wasn’t a compulsive liar anymore. Sometimes he slipped up, but not as often as he used to. Always for the same reason, though. 

Roman still didn’t know he had a little brother. 

Doctor Picani’s last patient was coming out of the office when Dorian walked up. It was a teenager, based on his height, but Dorian couldn’t see his face for his fringe of hair. 

“I like your jacket.” 

The boy looked up. “Thanks, made it myself.” His face went pale.

“Woah, you look like you’ve seen a ghost!”

“Dee?”

Nobody called him Dee. Nobody but- “Virgil?”

~~

Emile wondered where his next client was. Dorian Wake was generally on time. He stood up and walked to the door of his office, only to be confronted by a strange scene.

His new client, Virgil Sanders, and Dorian were on the floor, embracing each other and crying. Virgil’s father looked just as lost as Emile looked, obviously not expecting to find his son sobbing on the floor when he came to pick him up.

“Dorian? Do we need to reschedule?”

It took Dorian a minute to look up, and Emile was thankful for the smile on the young man’s face, despite how watery it was. “I think that’s a good idea, Doc. I’ll be here next week.” 

~

Virgil buried himself further into his brother’s chest. Dee still smelled like home.

~

Dorian wrapped his arms around his baby brother. “Not letting go of you again, cross my heart.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course they were gonna get back together, who do you think I am? Cruel or something?

**Author's Note:**

> Hope y'all enjoyed!
> 
> I set up a Discord server! <https://discord.gg/gtWgvQ4>  
Join me to talk about my writing and stuff!
> 
> Find more on tumblr @we-are-fam-ily


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